Registration and admission to
Texas Children’s Hospital usually is scheduled for
the day before surgery. Patients and their families should
arrive at 8 a.m. in the congenital heart surgery clinic on
the 20th floor of the West Tower. A congenital heart
surgery clinic nurse will guide you through the day.
The patient also will meet many
members of the heart center team who will discuss the
preoperative routines and answer any questions. These team
members include a social worker, child-life specialist,
chaplain and congenital heart surgery
anesthesiologist.
Texas Children’s staff will
conduct a thorough preoperative work-up to
achieve the best surgical outcome for the patient.
This work-up will take several hours. A cardiologist
performs a physical exam and multiple tests are
performed to ensure your child is ready for surgery. A
chest X-ray (CXR), an electrocardiogram (EKG) and lab
work also will be performed as part of the preoperative
process.
At the end of the preoperative
work-up, the patient will be admitted to the 15
Tower cardiac inpatient unit or sent home to return early the
following morning for surgery.
Valet parking is available at
the West Tower building. If you choose to valet park the
day of your preoperative work-up, bring the parking ticket
to the clinic and a nurse will validate your parking
ticket. It is the patient’s responsibility
to pay for parking throughout the remainder of the
hospital stay.
Things to do prior to the day of
surgery
If at all possible, the patient
should be free of infection prior to surgery. This
includes dental cavities, so a dental check-up and any
dental work required should be completed a minimum of six
weeks prior to surgery. A letter is required from the
dentist clearing the patient for surgery. In addition, if
the patient develops other signs of an infection, such as
a fever, runny nose, diarrhea or vomiting, contact the
surgeon’s office immediately.
Please contact your insurance
company to verify insurance and determine whether a
referral is required. If your insurance requires a
referral, have your primary care physician’s office fax
the referral to Texas Children’s Hospital Congenital
Heart Surgery at 832-825-2013.
If the patient is taking
aspirin, ask the cardiologist when to discontinue it.
Patients generally stop taking aspirin 14 days prior to
surgery to minimize the risk of excessive bleeding.
However, there may be a medical reason to continue the
aspirin, so it is important to check with the
cardiologist.
Patients who live more than one
hour away from Texas Children’s Hospital need to make
arrangements to stay in Houston for at least one full week
after discharge from the hospital. This is important to
ensure a rapid response to any early post-operative
issues. A Texas Children’s Hospital social worker can
assist your family if help is needed making these arrangements.
If the patient is due for
immunizations within a week of surgery, contact the
congenital heart surgery clinic and ask to speak to the
clinic nurse before getting any shots.
Patients undergoing cardiac
surgery frequently need blood products. Patients and
families interested in donating blood should call the
congenital heart surgery clinic and ask to speak to a
clinic nurse. Families and friends may donate blood in one
of two ways:
Credit: For each unit of blood
donated, a credit will be given on the patient’s bill, but
the blood donated will not be designated specifically
to
the patient. Blood donated can be any blood type.
Designated (or directed)
donation: Blood donated will be used for the designated
patient. For congenital heart surgery patients, blood
donors must be the same blood type as the patient. For
designated donation, it is important to contact the
surgeon’s office to let Texas Children’s help you
coordinate the donation. The surgeon’s office will require the patient’s
weight, blood type, surgery date and type of surgery.
The best time to donate blood is
one week prior to surgery and no later than three days
prior to surgery. There is a cost associated with directed
donor blood that may not be covered by your insurance. It
will be the family’s responsibility to cover the cost of
directed donor blood that is not covered by insurance.
If the patient is taking “blood
thinners” such as Coumadin or Lovenox, please contact the
Texas Children’s Hospital congenital heart surgery clinic
and ask to speak to the clinic nurse. These patients may
need to be hospitalized a few days prior to surgery to
discontinue these medications and convert to Heparin. This decision will be coordinated between the
patient, surgeon and cardiologist.
